Sustainable Development represents one of the most fundamental long-term challenges facing the world today. It raises profound problems for public policy-makers, businesses and civil society alike.
The Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) Programme 2007-2013 aims at addressing the following set of research themes:
Many definitions and characterisations of sustainable development exist but at the core of most definitions is the idea of balance among ‘pillars’ – social, environmental and economic. The scope of social and economic considerations within sustainable development concept is obviously very wide, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a need for more integration and balance between the pillars of sustainable development.
An important part of the sustainable development concept is a rejection of environmental protection as simply a project of the natural sciences and the recognition of the need for wide, cross-disciplinary analysis. As the sustainable development concept matures, the general focus is on putting principles into action in the ‘real world’ of policies, structures and behaviour. Thus the core agenda is one of integration and normalisation. This means getting the principles of sustainability embedded into policy & institutions; better understanding goals and progress towards them through measurement, and understanding the place of people (attitudes, behaviours and environmental citizenship).
Find out more details of EPA-funded projects under the Socio-Economics theme
Read more information on our completed projects:
Research Reports & Datasets under the Socio-Economics theme:
Learn more about the EPA Socio-Economics Research Workshop, December 2006
